All set for Kalyan’s homecoming party

His formal return may be a few days away, but son in tow, mandir poster boy Kalyan Singh climbed the BJP stage on Sunday – ostensibly to test the dais from which he would make his “homecoming” speech. Manish Chandra Pandey reports.

His formal return may be a few days away, but son in tow, mandir poster boy Kalyan Singh climbed the BJP stage on Sunday – ostensibly to test the dais from which he would make his “homecoming” speech.

Monday’s Atal Shankhnaad rally at Lucknow’s Jhule Lal Park would unofficially mark the end of the former UP chief minister’s four-year separation from the BJP, which even saw him launch the Jan Kranti Party.

On Monday, Singh’s son Rajbir would oversee the merger of the fledgling party with the BJP.

Singh would join the BJP later, but his speech is expected to send the signal that his return is just a technicality away.

The saffron brigade would be there in full strength to showcase a united front ahead of the 2014 elections. Party chief Nitin Gadkari, his predecessors Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajnath Singh, senior national vice presidents Kalraj Mishra, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Vinay Katiyar and veteran Lalji Tandon -- are all expected to attend.

The effort is aimed at galvanising the cadre, who have been lying low for some time. “The rally is expected to showcase our real strength, the workers,” said BJP state unit chief Laxmikant Bajpai. “We are confident that UP would send enough MPs to enable the BJP form its own government at Centre.”